Man charged in connection with vehicle interference – Watford

A man has been charged in connection with a series of vehicle interference offences in Watford town centre.

Miqdad Hassanali, aged 30, of Kensington Avenue in Watford, has been charged with three counts of vehicle interference.

The charges relate to offences committed yesterday (Monday 28 August) on Sotheron Road in Watford.

A member of the public called police at around 8.20am to report that a person was attempting to gain entry to several cars on the road.

Officers immediately attended and made an arrest within minutes of the call being made. The vehicles affected were an Audi A8, a Volvo V70, and a Ford Galaxy, but no property was reported as stolen.

Hassanali appeared before Hatfield Remand Court today (Tuesday 29 August) and was released on bail with strict conditions. He will next appear at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on Monday 18 December.  

Inspector Dan Jones, who leads the Watford Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “Vehicle crime is an issue that residents have said they want us to focus on, and it has been identified as one of our policing priorities for the next quarter.

“The teams have already carried out targeted high-visibility and plain-clothes operations at peak times, to identify insecure vehicles along with any suspicious activity. They will continue with these operations, and I’m pleased that we have achieved a charge and remand result for these recent offences.

“This case shows how vital it is to call us as soon as you suspect that a crime is being committed, as we can then respond in a timely manner to gather as much information and evidence for our investigation.”

There is a wealth of crime prevention advice on how to protect your vehicle on the Herts Police website (opens in new window).

If you have information for police, report it online at herts.police.uk/report, via online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or by calling the non-emergency number 101, quoting the relevant reference number.

Always dial 999 in an emergency or if a crime is in progress.

Alternatively, members of the public can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.  

You can use our community voice platform ‘echo’ to let us know what you think we should be prioritising in your area. Your anonymous feedback will help towards shaping our local policing priorities, initiatives, and campaigns. Visit bit.ly/police-watford and tell us what you think.

To receive police messages about a range of topics including burglaries, scams and missing people in your local area, sign up to owl.co.uk/herts or download the ‘OWL crime alerts’ app from your app store.